Adventures in vegan eats and feats

Free Ebook: Pumpkin Pickings + NuNaturals giveaway winners!

Ebook time! 😀 I’ve decided to hang up my apron and call it a day in order to bring you this bit of shiny today. We can sure all agree that this squashy pumpkin business is one of the best treats nature has to offer, and is easily swayed from salty to sweet. Have a click and download the absolutely free ebook (because you guys are awesomesauce)! Also, today’s the big day for announcing the 4 winners of the NuNaturals international giveaway 😀

First I’m going to ramble about the ebook and then announce the winners at the end – if you’re on the edge of your seat then just scroll down and then back up again 😉

I’ve been plotting this ebook for a few months now, and there’s just way too much that one can do with pumpkin! It’s one of the cheapest ingredients at the grocer that fills you up and can be added to pretty much everything, which is why it has been chosen as the theme this time round (oh, and all you guys are freaking out about pumpkin, co-incidentally). :p I’m all about the cheap and easy these days, because my bank account doesn’t always allow for too much fussing around, so this ebook is generally a budget-friendly adventure of pumpkin-infused goodies of all kinds.I’ve made it much shorter than my other ebooks, and have decided to do away with the usual breakfast, lunch dinner groups, as inspired by Annie’s wonderful cookbook, since, like her, I tend to be quite non-traditional about what I eat and when. Far be it for me to dictate munching to others!This 9-recipe ebook contains some basics and some ridiculously fun treats. Delicious, pillowy chocolate cookies, sweet pumpkin-cashew macarons, hearty herb bowls…there’s something for every mood. In keeping with tradition I’ve decided to share one recipe from the ebook here, since the rest won’t be on my general list of recipes and I want to give you all an idea of what to expect.Usually when I make sweet treats it’s mostly for Man-thing to eat, but I had a whole bar last night because I started to nibble and then it just became a feeding frenzy. These bars are so good, and best of all they have the Man-thing stamp of approval! Sweet but not sugar-heavy, textured but not too overwhelming, and with a subtle but delightful combo of easy flavours. Seriously, how look how short my ingredient list is for once! 😀

Pumpkin brownies

Brownies: makes 6 – 8

1 cup oats

½ cup almond flour

½ cup + 1 TBSP pumpkin purée

½ cup medjool dates

1/8 cup sweetener

1/8 cup + 1 TBSP cocoa powder/cacao

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

Frosting:

2 TBSP peanut butter

½ cup pumpkin purée

2 tsp sweetener

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 TBSP barley malt powder/hemp seed powder

Dark chocolate to drizzle and decorate

How-to:

Blend your frosting ingredients until smooth and refrigerate.

Blend your brownie mixture and place in a lined loaf tin and into the freezer for at least 1 – 2 hours.

Noommm! You don’t need to let it defrost for too long before going to town, but if you let it sit out a while longer it becomes somewhat mousse-y, which is great. The pumpkin frosting is just divine and the peanut butter flavour isn’t overwhelming as it usually is in most treats, but if you like you can sub for any nut or seed butter of choice.If you scout the blog you’ll pretty quickly see I’m a big fan of freezer treats – there should always be something in the house that will cure the sweet-toothed munchies. Of course, these bars only lasted two or three days in our house, since Man-thing took double portions, but still, they are so delightfully easy to make that there’s no hardship in whipping some up in the dead of night. If you don’t have almond flour on hand you can always sub for buckwheat flour or another no-bake flour.These munchies were the perfect excuse to use up the last of the medjool dates we’d received as a gift from our walking pal. Medjool dates are pretty much an ultimate luxury because they’re so pricey, with the end result being that don’t actually eat them because they’re too precious. Well, I figured it was up to me to take charge, and they really add a wonderful creamy texture to the base. It may seem like a lot of salt for some, and I’m not usually a salt monster, but it works absolute wonders with the sweetness of the chocolate and dates and helps give a layered taste sensation to the whole business. I always used to scoff at salt in desserts but now there must always be at least a little pinch.Anyway, I think this is the last ebook for the year…unless I get antsy and make another one! It’s always fun embracing one’s love of themes and uniformity, and pumpkin simply had to happen, because I eat it pretty much every day. You can’t really go wrong, even if you just steam the glorious business, but a pinch of spice or a blob of chocolate and it gets transformed into something indulgent, and I’m all about that at the moment.Anyhow, enough blathering: click the picture below to download the free ebook! And now for something most of you were bouncing to find out! The 4 winners for the NuNaturals giveaway are:

Stephanie

Jordan D.

Kyra

Gaby

Congratulations! 😀 I’ll be sending you an email today to get your postal addresses. Please note that if I do not get a response within 72 hours from posting I will have to choose another winner. Thank you to everyone who entered and to NuNaturals for sponsoring the awesome giveaway!

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Ahoy, I’m Margaux! History teacher and freelance editor; wench to my Man-thing; volunteer at a cat shelter; and handmaiden to our kitsy cats, Gatsby, Freyja and Atlas. This blog is dedicated to vegan food, occasionally overthrown by pictures of foster kittens and other fluffy creatures. I love sharing ideas and recipes, so don't be shy: stop by and say hi!

I only just saw this, OMG YAYAYAY can’t believe I am one of the winners (I seem to have been having bad luck lately!). Thanks for the giveaway Margaux 😀 also, going to take a look at your pumpkin ebook now!

Was I the Sarah Z. that won?? I checked my email but don’t see anything….perhaps I am not the only Sarah Z. Thanks! I am not sure where rafflecopter gets my info from it auto populates but I don’t have a account, oops!

Hi Sarah, you are indeed one of my winners! 😀 I’ve been playing nurse to four sick foster kittens, medicating them and trying to de-gunk and open their eyes every few hours, so I haven’t gotten round to sending the email yet – that was on my to-do list for tomorrow morning 🙂

These look so good! Just downloaded your ebook! Thank you for all your hard work. Why is the icing purple? I can just hear my non-vegan husband (but he’s getting better with his food choices, well actually has to) his type 2 Diabetes has become an issue again! So hopefully he listens to me and the Doctor and stays on the right path UGH.

Thank you Arlene! 😀 Hahah that’s just my terrible lighting in the photo room when I took the snaps – sometimes chocolate comes out weird colours in the late afternoon :p

Good luck with your husband! It’s the most difficult thing to change a lifetime’s worth of eating habits, especially when there’s not only so much temptation out there but also social situations where sugar is the norm. I’ve found that if one can quell the feeling of “deprivation” then it’s much easier; that is, if someone feels like they’re being punished and food is being withheld, it’s less likely to facilitate long-term change and happiness, especially with lifestyle and food choices.